Economic development remains top city priority

Economic development was the top issue for mayors in their annual State of the City addresses for the sixth year in a row according to State of the Cities 2019, a new report from the National League of Cities. 74% of mayors significantly covered economic development in their speeches, up substantially from 58% in 2018.

The top economic development subtopics were downtown development, community development, jobs, arts and culture, and tourism. While jobs remain important, all together a preference for place-based initiatives and an emphasis on quality of life continue to outweigh job creation strategies.

The report also found:

by Ellen D. Harpel